Thomas County cat., 1887-08-11
ThF DEADLY DRoUTH.

I
says this morning:
There is an area Of perhaps 5000
square miles in the Northwest where the
dust lies heavily upon the earth. The
district is bounded by Madison on the
north, Bloomington on the south, Lake
Michigan on the east and the Mississippi
river on the west The grass in the
meadows has grown yellow and white
and the streams are dry as powder horns.
1t has been nearly ten weeks since a
soaking rain fell i'm this district The
bulldog thistle, the pest of nearly every
farm. has at last succumbed to the fate
of all other vegetation. With not enough
moisture in the ground to feed thistle,
the condition of corn and tender grass in
the meadow may be imagined
In southern Wisconsin there are thous-
ands of acres where the corn will not
yield a peck to the acre. Wells have run
dry and in some towns water famines
are imminent. Drinking water at hand
is often polluted and filed with poison
GUS germs.
Typhoid fever is becoming more prev
alent, and dysentery and other stomach
disturbances are SO common in some
places as to be almost epidemic. The in
tense heat has been a terrible strain up
on man. but its effect upon cattle has
been simply appalling. Without pastur-
age to browse upon, or cooling pools, the
poor beasts have become so emaciated as
to be wholly unmarketable. Forest trees
have been felled and dragged to the pas
lures and the cattle turned loose to
browse upon the leaves Hun dreds of
cows are being killed and shipped to the
market for mere pittance. The far
mers in this district have already turned
their cattle loose to feed upon the crops
until fields have been eaten up.
Added to all the miseries attending
the great drouth is the fear of fires. The
tall grass of the prairies is dead, the
fields are ready to burst into flame and
the leaves lie in heaps in the forests. AL
ready the land encompassed by these
boundaries has been blackened by wild
fires. In some towns the people are of
ten called out three or four times IA day
to fipht flames
Destructive fires have been raging for
many days at Kenosha Racine and wal
worth cOuxties in Wisconsin. ThOus-
ands of acres have been swept by the
flames. In northern Illinois fires are so
that the farmers have plOwed the ground
about their buildings in order to check
the spread of flames.
In some parts of the district the drouth
is so terrible that the butternuts and wal
nuts have fallen from the trees. Pota-
toes, when taken from their beds of ash
es. look like crab apples. They are
wrinkled and spongy, and unfit for food.
There is also great scarcity of milk, Ow
ing to the inability of the cows to find
nutritious food.
In summing up detailed report of
the drouth in the Northwest an afternoon
paper says:
The first intimation of severe drOuth
came from the state of Michigan. In no
part of that state, however. did the COM
plant come from any single area cover
ing more than one county. Farmers and
villagers reported that their vegetables
were suffering, but ten miles distant
there would be reports of abundant rains.
AbOnt three weeks ago serious damage
was reported from certain sections in
Michigan and in some countries potatoes
were declared to be a failure as crop.
Next came reports of distress from Indi-
ana, then from Wisconsin, and at the
present time there is hardly county be-
tween the lakes and the Mississippi in
which rain is not prayed for. Here is an
extract from letter written last week
by as good gardener as there is in the
state of Michigan. He writes from
Hillsdale county as follows: Ever since
June 1S the only water my garden has
known has been that which we have car
ried from the WELL We now have indi-
cations that the well is drying up, and
the garden is burning up as though
scorched by fire."
The most recent intelligence that can
be obtained here shows that what is true
of garden truck in Michigan applies to
every state in the Northwest, while the
damage which the drouth has done to
corn and the finer fruits can hardly be
overestimated.
A charter has been taken for belt line
railroad in Atchison, Kas.
| just arriVed at the
Brick Store new
Dress Goods and
trimmings, and q bic
= ~